Cigarette case



S. W. SHWARZ Jan. 5, 1965 CIGARETTE CASE INVENTOR. flMz/z MA JA WAZZ BYM. M0

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o w A w United States Patent Gfifice 3,164,295 Patented Jan. 5, 19 653,164,295 CIGARETTE CASE Samuel W. Shwarz, 537 S. Gramercy Place, LosAngeles, Calif. Filed Oct. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 232,228 3 Claims. or.221-11 ejecting or providing an individual cigarette but these have notbeen entirely satisfactory. The more complicated and expensive onesinvolve not only a high initial cost but include mechanisms which tendto malfunction requiring additional repair costs. The more simplestructures tend to provide ineffective or haphazard operation or torequire considerable manipulation or resetting for the ejection of eachindividual cigarette.

Accordingly, it is the prime object of the present invention to providean improved cigarette case construction. It is a further object toprovide such a construction which is simple and economical, yet quiteeifective in operation. Another object of the present invention is toprovide an improved cigarette case construction which operates withoutrequiring-the additional or lost motion of resetting the mechanism eachtime a cigarette is desired. It is another object to provide such 'astructure which may be easilyand readily refilled or loaded.

A further object is to provide an improved cigarette case constructionwhich will function effectively when the supply of cigaretteshas-dwindled andonly a few remain in the case; that is, a constructionwhich operates effectively regardless of the number of cigarettesremaining in the case.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become obvious fromthe following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette case embodying variousfeatures of the inventionand showing a cigarette being partially raisedout of the case for; ready access;

FIGURE 2 is an end sectional view of the case shown in FIGURE 1; with awall portion broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIGURE 3 is a side sectional view of the case taken generally along line33 of FIGURE 2, showing the biasing means in an extended position andalso showing it, in phantom, in a more contracted position;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the removable side wall of theillustrated cigarette case together with the biasing means of said case;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the fixed side wall ofthe illustrated case, broken away from the remainder of the case toreveal the details of the ejection means; and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken generally along line 6-6 of FIGURE 5.

Briefly, the illustrated cigarette case 10 comprises the combination ofan enclosure 12 adapted to accommodate a plurality of cigarettes 14,manually operable means 16 for ejecting, at least partially, onecigarette 14 at a time from the case, and biasing means 18 urging thecigarettes into the proper position to be ejected.

The illustrated rectangular enclosure 12 (which is adapted to receivetwo rows of cigarettes 14 in side-byside relation) has a pair of endwalls 20a and 20b, a pair of narrow side walls 22a and 22b, and a secondpair of wide side walls 24.

The illustrated biasing means 18, shown best in FIG- URES 3 and 4 of thedrawings, comprises a main or base spring section 26 secured to onenarrow side wall 22a, and four individual action spring sections 28secured to the free end of the main spring section 26. The combinedaction of the sections 26 and 28 is to ensure that there is always acigarette 14 in position to be ejected, even when there arean odd numberof cigarettes in the case 10 and when the number dwindles down to ausually troublesome number such as five or three cigarettes.

The illustrated ejection or ejector means 16, seen best in FIG. 5,includes exit means 29 in end wall 20a and a pair of elongated members30 mounted on the narrow side wall 221; opposite the biasing means 18and interconnected for imparting reverse longitudinal movement to oneanother. Each illustrated member 30 is provided with a projection orpart '32 for engaging a cigarette to cigarettes, one for each movementof the' actuator in either direction.

This illustrated cigarette case 10 is very simple in construction andoperation, but will consistently and readily partially eject individualcigarettes, down to the last cigarette in the case.

Now considering the illustrated cigarette case 10 in further detail, theillustrated enclosure 12 is rectangular having the general shape of apackage of cigarettes.

The case 10, as illustrated in the drawing, shows what is considered thenormal orientation of a cigarette pack, that is with the cigarettesdisposed vertically, and the case will be described in these terms forconvenience, it being understood that such orientation is not anecessary part of the invention.

The enclosure 12 may be constructed of any suitable material from whichcigarette cases are normally produced such as metal, plastic, wood orthe like As shown best in FIG. 1, the upper end Wall, 20a of theillustrated case It) is provided at one end with a movable or exitsection 36 which is normally maintained in alignment with the remainderof the wall 20a by means such as the illustrated spring 38, but which isresilientiy movable into the position shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 when acigarette 14 is urged upwardly against it. Thus, the movable section 36comprises the exit means 29 and permits the partial ejection of thecigarette 14 by the ejector means 16.

The external transverse width of the'enclosure 12, measured across thenarrow side walls 22, is at least large enough to receive two normalsize cigarettes in side-byside relation and it may be somewhat larger.However, it is desirable that this internal width be sufficiently narrowto prevent the alignment of three cigarettes against the narrow sidewall 22. I

As shown in FIG. 1, if the case 10 is fabricated from an opaque materialit may beprovided with means for gauging its fullness, and theillustrated case 10 includes a window or opening 39 covered withtransparent material and extending transversely of one of the wider sidewalls 24 of the enclosure for this purpose.

The illustrated narrow side wall adjacent the movable section 36 isdesignated 22b and provided with a longitudinally extending verticalslot 40, adjacent one side, the purpose of which will be explainedbelow.

The narrow side wall 22a spaced from the movable section 36 is, asillustrated best in FIG. 4, removable to provide an entrance or loadingopening for the case 10. Suitable means (not shown) are provided forreleasable holding the removable wall 22a in the closing position shownin the drawings.

The illustrated case 10 may be constructed to accommodate both king sizeand regular length cigarettes by means of removable platform insert 41such as outlined in broken line in FIG. 3.

In the illustrated form of the case, the main or base spring section 26of the biasing means 18 is an elongated strip of spring material foldedback upon itself to form ,four accordion oriented portions which aredesigned 26::

through 26d in the drawings. One end portion 26a is fixed to theremovable side wall 22a and the remainder or" the main section 26extends internally of the enclosure 12 toward the opposite narrow sidewall 22b. The opposite or free end portion 26d of this section 26 liesgenerally parallel to that fixed side wall 22b. Fixed tothe outer faceof portion 26d in the illustrated embodiment are four relatively lighterindividual action spring sections 28 in the form of fingers or tongs.These fingers 28 are secured to the portion 26d and extend outwardlytherefrom toward the fixed narrow side wall 22b. It

' will be noted that two of the sections 28 are disposed adjacent eachhalf of the side wall 22b. In this way, whatever cigarettes remain inthe case at any time are resiliently urged against wall 22b and jamming,particularly when only a few and an odd number of cigarettes remain inthe case, is substantially eliminated. As shown in FIG. 3, whichillustrates the operation of the device when only three cigarettesremain within the case, the spring sections 28 farthest. from view aredeflected by the presence of two cigarettes on that side of the case,but this does not prevent the spring sections 28 closest to view fromurging the third cigarette against the wall 2212 so that it may beeffectively ejected from the case.

The illustrated ejector means 16 is quite simple and economical toproduce and operate, yet it has been found to produce a highly effectiveand dependable operation. As shown in the drawings, and particularlyFIG. 5, the illustrated ejector means includes a pair of elongated rackmembers 30 slidably mounted in the illustrated case upon the innersurface of side wall 22b in spaced relation to one another for movementlongitudinally or vertically of that wall. The illustrated members 30each have a part or projection 32 located at the end of the memberremote from the exit 29 that extends into the enclosure 12. As seen inFIGS. 2 and 5, each member 30 is provided with gear teeth 42 extendingalong an intermediate portion of its edge. 'These teeth 42 on the twomembers 30 are along the inner edges of the members and thereby adjacentto each other- A small gear 44 is rotatably supported on the side wall225, between the members 30 and engages the teeth 42 of both members.The members 3%) are shorter than the length of side wall 22b and are soarranged that when one of the members is longitudinally moved toposition one of its ends adjacent one of the end walls 20, theothermember 30 is longitudinally displaced or offset relative to the firstmember (as seen in FIGS. 2 3; and The members 30 move in reverselongitudinal direction when one or the other of the members 30islongitudinally moved. As seen best in FIG. 3, a rectangular inlay ofplatform 45 serves to raise the level of the bottom of the enclosure 12to general alignment with the upper. surface of the inwardly extendingpart 32 of the member 30 when this part 32 is at its lowest position.The member. 3% which is elevated or displaced from end wall20b,ias whena cigarette 14 is being lifted, maintains the remaining cigarettesspaced from narrow side wall 22b and prevents them fromfalling over theedge of platform 45 by virture of inwardly extending part 32.

The manually operable means 34 for longitudinally moving the members 36comprises, in the illustrated case, a pin with an enlarged head which isfixed to one of the members 36) and extends through the slot 40 in thenarrow side wall 22b.

The operation of the illustrated cigarette case will be apparent to oneskilled in the art from the above description of the structure. To loadthe case, the side wall 22a is removed, cigarettes 14, are inserted intothe en closure 12', and the wall 22a is releasably secured back intoposition. When the case is full, the spring sections 26 and 28 ofthebiasing means 18 are compressed back upon themselves. To eject acigarette 14, the exposed head of the pin 34 is moved within the slot 40and this will cause a single cigarette 14 to be moved upwardly againstthe movable exit section 36 and be partially ejected from the enclosureso that the end of the cigarette may be grasped and cigarette totallyremoved from the case. Removal of the cigarette allows the movablesection 36 to return to its closed position. If the pin 34 was in thedown position when the case was filled, its upward movement will raisethe member 30 to which it is attached and thereby elevate a cigarette14. If, on the other hand, the pin 34 was in the upper position,lowering it will raise the other member .36), which other member willelevate a cigarette to partially eject it. Thus, each movement of thepin 34, up or down, raises one or the other of the elongated members 36)to lift an individual cigarette 14 through the exit 29 of the case. Theoperation of the biasing means 18, as already explained in considerabledetail, serves to ensure that there is always a cigarette 1 located uponthe extending part 32 of that member 3t which bottomed or at its lowerposition.

Thus, an extremely simple and economical cigarette case, which is alsohighly effective and dependable, is provided by the illustratedstructure. Further, the illustrated case requires no elaborate or lostmotion and effective operation is insured no matter how many or fewcigarettes are within the case.

Various modifications and changes may be made in the illustratedstructure without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Various features of the present invention are set forth in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cigarette case comprising the combination of a generallyrectangular enclosure sufficiently large to accommodate a plurality ofcigarettes in side-by-side relation to one another and including a pairof opposite end walls adapted to lie at either end of the cigarettes, apair of opposed relatively wide side walls extending between said endwalls, and a pair of opposed relatively narrow side walls extendingbetween said end walls and said relatively wide side walls, one of saidend walls including exit means to permit end-wise removal of anindividual cigarette from said enclosure, said exit means being disposedadjacent to a first of said narrow side walls, manually operable ejectormeans on said first narrow side Wall for at least partially ejecting anindividual cigarette through said exit means, and collapsible springbiasing means in said enclosure and secured to the inside of the narrowside wall opposite said first narrow side wall and adapted to urge thecigarettes in the case into position to be ejected from the enclosure bythe operation of said ejection means, said narrow side walls having aninternal transverse diameter of two cigarettes but which is smaller thanthe combined diameter of three cigarettes, said biasing means includinga collapsible spring section extending from the narrow side wallopposite said first side wall and at least two spaced individuallyacting resilient spring sections on the free end of said main springsection, said a one narrow side wall to be positioned for readyejection.

2. A cigarette case comprising the combination of a generallyrectangular enclosure sufiiciently large to accommodate a plurality ofcigarettes in side-by-side relation to one another and including a pairof opposite end walls adapted to lie at either end of the cigarettes, apair of opposed relatively wide side walls extending between said endwalls, and a pair of opposed relatively narrow side walls extendingbetween said end walls and said relatively wide side walls, one of saidend Walls including exit means to permit end-Wise removal of anindividual cigarette from said enclosure, said exit means being disposedadjacent to a first of said narrow side walls, manually operable ejectormeans on said first narrow side wall for at least partially ejecting anindividual cigarette through said exit means, and collapsible springmeans in said enclosure and secured to the inside of the narrow sideWall opposite said first narrow side wall and adapted .to urge thecigarette in the case into position to be ejected from the enclosure bythe operation of said ejection means, and removable platform meanspositionable Within said enclosure to provide a raised bottom thereinwhereby the case is adaptable for regular or king size cigarettes, saidmanually operable ejection means including a foot member forming a liftmovable to a position below the end of a cigarette for ejecting it fromthe said enclosure.

3. A case as in claim 1 wherein said individually acting spring sectionscomprising two pairs of spring sections, one pair being engageable witheach of two adjacent cigarettes, said sections being sufficientlyflexible to accommodate to and bias adjacent rows of cigarettes havingan even number of cigarettes in one row and an odd number in another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,616,864 Martin Feb. 8, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS 249,300 Great Britain Mar.25, 1926

2. A CIGARETTE CASE COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF A GENERALLYRECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE SUFFICIENTLY LARGE TO ACCOMMODATE A PLURALITY OFCIGARETTES IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER AND INCLUDING A PAIROF OPPOSITE END WALLS ADAPTED TO LIE AT EITHER END OF THE CIGARETTES, APAIR OF OPPOSITE RELATIVELY WIDE SIDE WALLS EXTENDING NARROW SAID ENDWALLS, AND A PAIR OF OPPOSED RELATIVELY NARROW SAID WALLS EXTENDINGBETWEEN SAID END WALLS AND SAID RELATIVELY WIDE SIDE WALLS, ONE OF SAIDEND WALLS INCLUDING EXIT MEANS TO PERMIT END-WISE REMOVAL OF ANINDIVIDUAL CIGARETTE FROM SAID ENCLOSURE, SAID EXIT MEANS BEING DISPOSEDADJACENT TO A FIRST OF SAID NARROW SIDE WALLS, MANUALLY OPERATABLEEJECTOR MEANS ON SAID FIRST NARROW SIDE WALL FOR AT LEAST PARTIALLYEJECTING AN INDIVIDUAL CIGARETTE THROUGH SAID EXIT MEANS, ANDCOLLAPSIBLE SPRING MEANS IN SAID ENCLOSURE AND SECURED TO THE INSIDE OFTHE NARROW SIDE WALL OPPOSITE SAID FIRST NARROW SIDE WALL AND ADAPTED TOURGE THE CIGARETTE IN THE CASE INTO POSITION TO BE EJECTED FROM THEENCLOSURE BY THE OPERATION OF SAID EJECTION MEANS, AND REMOVABLEPLATFORM MEANS POSITIONABLE WITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE TO PROVIDE A RAISEDBOTTOM THEREIN WHEREBY THE CASE IS ADAPTED FOR REGULAR OR KING SIZECIGARETTES, SAID MANUALLY OPERABLE EJECTION MEANS INCLUDING A FOOTMEMBER FORMING A LIFT MOVABLE TO A POSITION BELOW THE END OF A CIGARETTEFOR EJECTING IT FROM THE SAID ENCLOSURE.